


The Asshole in my 8am | Jamilton

by orphan_account



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: 1 belongs to John and the other belongs to James, M/M, Rated for swearing, because i love these even though they're cliche, everyone shares 2 braincells, i want yall to know in my doc this is titled Agdfhasfhjdkb WHY THE FUCK AM I DOING THIS, lafayette and angelica aren’t really in this, me projecting onto alexander, neither are eliza and hercules, sorry - Freeform, they know each other but don't know they know each other au, thomas and alex are dumbasses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-03-05 14:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18830455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: very loosely based on the prompt: "Hey you called this number at like 3AM and we talked about some pretty heavy shit"except they also know each other irl and they don't know that it's the same person





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> tw for depression (it's mentioned twice)

Alexander threw back the blankets and got into bed, cringing at the loud squeals of the old bed springs. _2:37_ , he dimly registered, glancing at the clock on the wall. _Eh, it’s not like I haven’t had worse._

He could just feel himself dropping off to sleep when he was rudely interrupted by a faint buzzing. Who the fuck was calling at this time? He rummaged for his phone on the bedside table, only to see a number he didn’t recognize. _Do telemarketers work at this time?_

The ringing stopped, and Alexander hoped whoever it was would get the hint and leave him alone. Only, a few seconds later, it started again. He picked up his phone and angrily jabbed the “Accept Call” button, he’d just opened his mouth to say “You’ve got the wrong number, and also why are you calling people at 3 in the morning what the fuck”, when he heard the person on the other end say, “James, I’m feeling really fucking depressed right now and I can’t sleep so please distract me.”

Alexander was silent. He’s been there, he knows sometimes you just really need to not be alone. It didn’t seem right to just… tell this guy he had the wrong number and hang up.

“James? Are you there? I can leave you alone if you want.”

“No! I mean, I’m not, uh, James but you don’t really sound like you should be left alone.”

The person groaned. “Oh god. Oh shit, I am so sorry, I called the wrong number and it’s three in the morning and I probably woke you up-”

“Hey, it’s totally fine. I’ve been there. So, um, do you want to talk about it or just want me to distract you?”

“Just distract me, please.”

Alexander wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing; he started by telling the person some random story about a musical his friends had dragged him to and then just talked about the most trivial things, doing his best to a) not make the person more sad than he already was, and b) not reveal any personal information just in case this guy was a depressed serial killer or something.

He jumped about a foot in the air when his alarm started beeping. He’d really stayed up all night talking to… talking to someone whose _name_ he didn’t even know. Well, maybe it was better that way, they didn’t know each other.

“Sorry, I gotta go, I have class soon. If you wanna call me again, you can just, uh, save my number or something…” _Why did he say that? Literally what the fuck where is his brain to mouth filter._

“Really? You’re sure?” And what was he gonna do? Say no?

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay, bye! Have fun at your class.”

Alexander laughed. “I’ll try.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No tws  
> Also Alexander needs a h u g smol awkward bean

Alexander ran down the hall, barely making it to his 8am Poli Sci class on time. Not a great impression to make on the professor for the first class of the semester, and Alexander mentally kicked himself. Luckily a few front row seats were still empty. He quickly sat down.

“Okay, it’s eight am, let’s begin,” said the professor. “I’m Professor Washington. First we need to establish a few ground rules. Please try to be punctual, attendance makes up a large portion of your grades so I wouldn’t ditch, and lastly, although we do have debates, insults and threats will not be tolerated.”

“With that out of the way, let’s discuss your first project!” Professor Washington then struggled for three minutes with the antiquated projector, cursing under his breath, before managing to display the overview. A partner debate, on an assigned topic. _Shouldn’t be too bad_.

“Oh, did I mention the partners are assigned?” Collective groan. _Whatever._ If his partner was totally useless Alexander could just do all the work himself.

Professor Washington scrolled to reveal the list of groups. He’d be working with… that one French guy with six names. _Jesus Christ, for my sanity I’m just going to call him Lafayette,_ Alexander decided. And the group they’d be debating against - Angelica Schuyler, a smart and engaging person, and… Thomas Jefferson? Maybe he was new, maybe Alexander was just so out of it he doesn’t even know the 150 people in his year. Probably the latter.

Their topic: pros and cons of governmental banks. _This could have turned out much worse_. Alexander was so deep in thought he didn’t hear Professor Washington say, “You may work with your partners for the rest of the time,” and as such he nearly jumped out of his skin when a heavily accented voiced said into his ear, “Well, it seems we’ve been assigned together.”

“Uh, yeah!” said Alexander, too quickly, trying to mask that he was startled. “Quick question, is it okay if I just call you Lafayette?”

Lafayette laughed. “You read my mind. What kind of a terrible name is _Gilbert_?”

Alexander spluttered. “Tha-that’s not what I meant-” and Lafayette didn’t even bother to hide his amusement.

“Relax, I know what you meant.”

“Let’s just, um, start brainstorming some ideas for the project,” Alexander said, pulling a notebook out of his bag. Lafayette, as it turned out, had some really good ideas. Other than the fact that he seemed entirely too extroverted (seriously, Alexander has no idea how sociable people do it), Alexander really liked Lafayette. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Angelica knows French because why not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw for depression and anxiety  
> Also I wrote this in longhand first and then typed it into a doc by phone light so lmk if I made any egregious typos :)

Thomas had been incredibly anxious about transferring. Especially to this university, where the year had only 150 students and they all probably knew each other already. The only saving grace was that James Madison, Thomas’s best friend before moving to France, also attended this school.

It had all come to a head the night before classes started. Thomas couldn’t get to sleep because of all the nervous thoughts circling rapidly through his mind, and then those turned into feeling totally inadequate and that he’d never fit in, which then turned into just generally feeling like shit.

And then he’d majorly fucked up and switched a digit in James’s number and called a _random stranger_ at 3 in the morning. Whose area code was the same as James’s, and who had mentioned going to class. _Who probably also attended this university_. Oh, _fuck._

Thomas decided that he would thank the guy - after all he had stayed up nearly four hours talking to Thomas. But he wasn’t going to ask if the stranger attended his school. He didn’t want to seem like a stalker.

So he saved the guy’s number under “Handsome Stranger” (because even if the guy wasn’t handsome, his personality certainly was) and sent a message thanking him.

Then Thomas realized, the guy probably didn’t have his number saved, and he should _probably_ clarify who he was. But he didn’t want to just _end_ with “Oh yeah I’m the depressed bitch who calls people at 3 in the morning” so he added a supremely awkward “thanks again” message. He groaned loudly into his hands.

“Damn, was poli sci _that_ bad?” asked James, sitting next to him outside their shared 9am class.

“No, I’m just an awkward fucking mess,” said Thomas, and told James what had happened the previous night.

“Well, who was it?” asked James impatiently after Thomas had finished.

“I don’t know! He didn’t tell me his name, and I didn’t ask.”

“Thomas, oh my god. Well, you wanna be friends with this guy, right?” Thomas nodded. “Then just be your normal self, right? You’re a cool person, and if this guy is anywhere near as nice as you make him sound, he’ll see that.”

“Why does it feel like you’re giving me advice on how to act around my crush?” Thomas asked, grinning. James snorted, and they both burst into laughter.

~~~~~

_You have 3 new messages. From: xxxxxxxxxx_

Alexander blinked in confusion. He didn’t recognize the number.

_xxxxxxxxxx: sorry to bother you again but i just wanted to thank you for last night_

_xxxxxxxxxx: oh this is the depressed guy who called at like 3 am_

_xxxxxxxxxx: anyway, it was really helpful, and i got through my first day of class okay so thank you :)_

So he hadn’t been hallucinating last night. His fingers hovered over his keyboard before Alexander typed out a reply.

_Alexander: no problem_

Imaginative. A future writer in the making right here.

Alexander saved the number under “Sad Boi” and then his phone was nearly snatched out of his hand.

“Stop staring at your phone! It’s the _first day back_ for crying out loud!” Eliza admonished.

“Sorry,” he said, stuffing it into his bag. They were soon joined at their cafeteria table by Angelica, and then (to Alexander’s surprise) Lafayette and another student who introduced himself as Hercules Mulligan. The conversation flowed unexpectedly smoothly, with Angelica and Lafayette making sarcastic remarks in French and Hercules regaling them all with crazy stories.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alexander and Thomas actually care about their schoolwork (imagine)  
> Also! kind of important! this fic has a new title bc i actually wrote an outline and have some idea where this is going

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no tws!!  
> just me projecting onto alex that is all

Alexander sat alone in his dorm, listlessly watching content appear as Lafayette typed into their Google doc. He had already finished a page’s worth for the argument presentation and didn’t appear to be stopping any time soon. Alexander knew he should be working on his part, but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to start. All of his usual homework playlists weren’t working, and he just felt sad and tired. 

Alexander hesitated before sending the text. Wouldn’t he be bothering this guy? They’d spoken only once (twice if you count the truly profound text conversation they’d had yesterday). Why should he care about Alexander’s problems? Then again, this wasn’t really a  _ problem _ . It was just so stupid that he didn’t want to bother his friends with it. He just needed to tell someone about it without them wanting to help. He didn’t need help.

_ Alexander: do you ever just feel sad for no reason _

_ Sad Boi: not really. but do you want to talk about it? _

_ Alexander: i mean, there’s not really much to talk about _

_ Alexander: i just,,, don’t feel like doing things i normally would? like i’d normally be listening to music and doing hw but im just,,, not _

_ Alexander: this is stupid _

_ Sad Boi: it’s not stupid _

_ Sad Boi: that’s understandable _

_ Sad Boi: it’s good that ur talking to someone about it _

_ Alexander: sorry to bother you _

_ Sad Boi: it’s okay! i called u at 3am at least you’re texting me at a somewhat less ungodly hour _

Alexander laughed quietly to himself on reading that.

_ Sad Boi: maybe just take a break? Go for a walk or smth and take ur mind off whatever u need to do _

_ Alexander: yeah that sounds like a good idea _

_ Alexander: thanks _

_ Sad Boi: no problem! _

_ Sad Boi: btw what do u have my name saved as?? _

_ Alexander: oh god don’t hate me _

_ Alexander: it’s “Sad Boi” _

_ Sad Boi: omg why u gotta call me out like that  _

_ Alexander: what’s mine? _

_ Sad Boi: it  _ **_was_ ** _ “Handsome Stranger” _

_ Sad Boi: but i’m changing it now _

_ Alexander: how do u know i’m handsome tho _

_ Alexander: are u a stalker??? _

_ Sad Boi: no wtf _

_ Sad Boi: i’m just a hopeless romantic _

_ Alexander: …. _

_ Sad Boi: also ur contact name is now “Unpleasant Stranger” _

_ Alexander: urs is “Probably A Stalker” _

_ Probably A Stalker: why are u so mean i’m suing _

_ Alexander: lmao okay _

Alexander was full on grinning at this point; his roommate gave him a strange look when he walked in the door. He put down his phone, opened his laptop, and began typing feverishly. He’d chosen to write the rebuttal section of the project, so first he had to think up possible arguments the other side might use, and then counter them. After a half hour, he already had two pages (single spaced) of content. 

~~~~~

_ Thomas: hey are you free at 5 to work on the project? _

_ Angelica: yes, should we meet at the café? _

_ Thomas: sure _

Thomas arrived at the café, ordered something, and grabbed a table for himself and Angelica, who walked in a few minutes later. She waved, then sat down across from him. 

“Alright, so. Cons of governmental banks!” she said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, I’ve got the notes we made in class, and I also started writing a few arguments.”

“Okay, so do you want to handle argument presentation or rebuttal?”

Thomas didn’t hesitate before answering, “Rebuttal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fsdgfkuds i didn't realize u could do beginning AND end notes!!  
> anyway scream at me on tumblr @i-will-never-be-satisfied


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which thomas jefferson says "we stan" and alex is a dumbass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not updating! this week has been "project hell week" and i promise the updates will be more regular now  
> no tws

**2 days later**

“As I’m sure you all know,” said Professor Washington, “you will be presenting your projects today.” Alexander was making some last minute additions to his printed notes; others were doing the same. “To determine the order, I’ll be drawing groups from this box.”

“First up, Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton, against Angelica Schuyler and Thomas Jefferson!” Washington motioned the four of them towards two tables set up at the front of the room. “Your topic: a governmental national bank. Pro side, you may begin.”

Lafayette stood and addressed Thomas and Angelica. “It is absolutely necessary that any nation that hopes to function have a national bank. Even if there are some smaller banks, there has to be some unification of a nation’s finances!”

Alexander watched as Lafayette continued to present their argument. Unlike many other debaters he’d seen, Lafayette actually seemed to care at least a little bit about his topic. 

Angelica stood up to begin the other side’s presentation. As she talked, Alexander ticked off the points he’d predicted in his rebuttal notes. She’d had only two that he hadn’t thought of, but he could make up counters to those on the fly. 

His turn. Alexander made his entire presentation without once referring to his notes. Even Washington looked a little impressed. The only weird part was Jefferson, who seemed to be eying him with… was that  _ disbelief _ ? Whatever. He finished and sat down.

Jefferson stood, leaving his papers on the table just as Alexander had done. After his (fairly predictable, in Alexander’s opinion) rebuttal, he suddenly looked straight at Alexander, as if he couldn’t bear to just finish his presentation without addressing him. “You think that it’s fine for governments to have that kind of financial power? That government couldn’t possibly be corrupt? Well, if the shoe fits, wear it-”

“Turn around, bend over, I’ll show you where my shoe fits!”

“Alexander Hamilton!” thundered Professor Washington. “Did I not warn you, only two days ago, that insults and threats would  _ not  _ be tolerated?”

“But sir-”

“Would you like to leave?” Washington gestured towards the door. Jefferson not-so-successfully hid a smirk.

Alexander sighed. “No, sir.”

~~~~~

_ Thomas: do u wanna hear about the asshole in my 8am class _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: go for it  _

_ Thomas: okay so  _

_ Thomas: we had a debate _

_ Thomas: and this guy really goes off on his topic _

_ Thomas: so naturally i go off as well right _

_ Thomas: and he couldn’t come up with a response so he threatened me _

_ Thomas: keep ur threats to urself like the rest of us _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: we love people who can’t come up with coherent arguments  _ (a/n: alex. you dumbass)

_ Thomas: yes we stan _

_Unpleasant Stranger: do you want to hear about the asshole in_ ** _my_** _8am?_

_ Thomas: you know i do _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: we also had a debate today _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: so i do my speaking  _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: the guy after me does his _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: and then he looks right at me and is like _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: you actually support what ur arguing?? ur dumb _

_ Thomas: but isn’t the point that the topics are  _ **_assigned_ ** **?**

_ Unpleasant Stranger: yeah exactly _

_ Thomas: wow that’s kinda mean _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: at least the project is done _

_ Thomas: yeah same here _

_ Thomas: thanks for letting me rant  _

_ Unpleasant Stranger: same to you lmao _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come scream at me on tumblr @i-will-never-be-satisfied


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which thomas wants to get drunk off mac and cheese. which. i mean. same. i support u and ur weird food combos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can yall tell ive never taken poli sci in my life

**2 weeks later**

Thomas was, overall, doing well. He’d settled in, his classes were interesting, and he’d met a few people who he was becoming friends with. Better than his pessimistic self had expected. There was, however, one thorn in his side, and its name was Alexander Hamilton. The only time they actually saw each other was in 8am poli sci, but Hamilton somehow managed to be irritating every. Single. Class.

Yesterday, Professor Washington had asked Thomas for his opinion on something, and Thomas swore that he saw Hamilton rolling his eyes as Thomas answered. Washington noticed too, it was _that_ obvious, but he ignored it. After all, this had happened five times before, each ending in an uglier argument than the last. Although, to be fair, Thomas often couldn’t help himself from making it known just how exasperated he was when he heard Hamilton’s _stupid_ ideas either.

Whatever. Life couldn’t be all sunshine and primroses. Mostly sunshine and primroses was still pretty damn good.

~~~~~

Junior year was just the same as the one before. Alexander was still his work-until-2am-and-worry-his-roommate self. Classes were stressful, but manageably so, and his papers were still _kickass_ (at least for humanities. Alexander was _not_ a STEM person). He still was in the same group of friends (although it had now expanded to include Lafayette and Hercules Mulligan), and he still started every morning with his (god-awful, as Angelica said) black coffee.

Alexander’s only concern, really, was that he might fail poli sci. Professor Washington seemed to be growing more and more pissed at him every day, which was understandable, since it was a miracle when the 55-minute class passed without an argument between him and Thomas Jefferson. They weren’t even about poli sci sometimes, Alexander and Jefferson just seemed to hate each other _that much_.

Last week, Alexander had overheard Jefferson saying something about _alcohol_ in mac and cheese. He must have raised his eyebrows a little too high (as any _normal_ person would), because Jefferson had snapped, “What, are you gonna tell me my taste in food is stupid as well?”

“Who in God’s name puts _alcohol_ in mac and cheese?”

“It’s a free country! Or, wait, _you_ think governments should have absolute power.”

“It’s not my fault you can’t tell the difference between a functional government and absolute power.”

“If you don’t mind, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Jefferson, I’d like to begin my class now,” said Professor Washington. Both of them mumbled apologies and hurried to their seats.

~~~~~

Class was over, and Thomas sat alone in his dorm. His roommate was out, James had a late class, he’d finished all his assignments. The long and short of it was that Thomas was bored and really wanted to talk to someone.

_Thomas: can i call u_

_Unpleasant Stranger: yeah sure_

The phone didn’t even finish one ring before the person on the other end picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hi! How’s it going?”

A soft laugh. “I was so sleep-deprived today that in chem I said that ice is boneless water.”

“Isn’t it the other way around?” Thomas said, grinning.

The conversation continued on like that, stupid stories and gently poking fun at each other, and Thomas genuinely laughed for the first time in a while. He easily put aside his one needling thought: that this voice sounded _familiar_.

“Oh my God, I keep mentally referring to you as ‘Unpleasant Stranger’ since that’s your contact name.”

“Well, that’s better than ‘Depressed Guy’.”

“You call me ‘Depressed Guy’? Are you actually serious right now?”

“You call me ‘Unpleasant Stranger’! Am I really that bad?”

“Well, how about you tell me your name then? And I’ll tell you mine.”

A short pause. “My name is Alexander Hamilton.”

Wait. What the fuck? This guy who he’d been talking to for the past few weeks, who he’d ranted to and talked for an hour about nothing with, _was Alexander Hamilton?_ This could not be his life. This had to be some kind of shitty dream.

“You still there?” And of course, Thomas _panicked_ and violently jammed “End Call”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come scream at me on tumblr @i-will-never-be-satisfied


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Thomas gets his shit together (with help from everyone’s favorite side character, James)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I didn’t mean to make the ending as angsty is it is but it’ll be okay I promise  
> Unless specified, all the time skips are just later that day  
> Also thank y’all for 50 kudos! I’m so glad you like this fic.

As in all situations where Thomas had no idea what to do, his first thought was to call James. But James was in class and wouldn’t pick up. Fuck.

 _Okay, Thomas, think logically,_ he told himself, in a desperate attempt to calm down. He had three options.

1\. Tell Hamilton the truth

2\. Continue everything like it was before, and don’t let Hamilton know what he knew

3\. Break off all contact and pretend this never happened.

He rejected option 2 straight away because that would only lead to him getting caught. Hamilton would be suspicious, especially because Thomas had promised to tell him his name. So that left him with tell Hamilton or pretend it never happened. And no way in hell did he want to tell Hamilton (who’d never believe him anyway).

As a first step, he deleted the “Unpleasant Stranger” contact in his phone. He couldn’t bring himself to delete the text conversations, though.

~~~~~

 **The next** **day**

“Can someone explain the principle behind an oligarchy?” As usual, Alexander was one of the first to volunteer, and promptly launched into an inevitably opinionated explanation. The internal sigh was visible on Professor Washington’s face, and he waited for Jefferson’s reply. Only it never came. Silence hung in the air.

It was eventually broken by Professor Washington. “Yes, that’s correct.” Alexander didn’t think too much of it. Maybe Jefferson just didn’t have a good response.

~~~~~

“So what you’re telling me is that your life’s become a shitty rom-com?”

Thomas spluttered. “No, what the fuck, the guy literally hates me. And I don’t like him very much either.” James raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press it.

“What are you gonna do now?”

“Well so far avoiding him seems to be working pretty well-” Thomas cut himself off when James put his face into his hands. “What?”

“Don’t you think Hamilton at least deserves to know it’s you? I’m not saying you should be friends with him or anything like that; from what you’ve told me he seems like a bit of a dick, but I feel like that would be common decency.”

“Yeah, but who’s to say he’d even believe me?”

“How else would you know about this random person he’s been texting for the past three weeks?”

Thomas groaned. “I hate that you’re always right about these things.”

~~~~~

**The next day**

Alexander was early for class, which wasn’t a surprise. No, the surprise was when for the second day in a row, Jefferson didn’t send one comment in his direction. Not a word. It was as if they were back to day one when Alexander had only known Jefferson as that new kid.

Logically, he knew there could be a thousand explanations. Maybe Jefferson had decided he was over arguing. Maybe he was just stressed out. But Alexander saw him acting perfectly normal with everyone else - chatting happily with friends, answering questions in class. The only person he seemed to be weird around was Alexander. _Shit, had he actually hurt Jefferson’s feelings?_

~~~~~

 **The** **next** **day**

Thomas walked into poli sci and headed straight for his seat, only to find an iced coffee on the desk, with a note.

_It’s not poisoned; I promise. -Hamilton_

Thomas’s first thought was that Hamilton had found out somehow. But wouldn’t he be angry? And how could he possibly know? No, he’d probably just noticed Thomas avoiding him and this was his way of apologizing. Even though they’d both been at fault. _Maybe Hamilton wasn’t such a bad person after all._

~~~~~

“Hamilton!” Thomas called after him as he walked out of class. When he turned around, Thomas waved awkwardly. “I just wanted to say… thanks. For the coffee. And, uh, sorry for avoiding you.”

“You’re welcome. It was meant to be an apology, you know, for insulting you all the time. I assume that’s why you were avoiding me?”

“About that…” Thomas fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “It wasn’t because of anything that happened in class. It was that I’m…” he trailed off.

“You don’t have to tell me if it’s personal.”

“No, I do. I’m ‘Depressed Guy,’” Thomas admitted, complete with air quotes. And now Hamilton was the one who looked uncomfortable.

“Are you joking?”

“I’m not that good an actor, Hamilton. And I have the texts on my phone.”

“That’s okay… I’m just gonna, uh, go,” said Hamilton. He turned on his heel and quickly walked away.

Yeah, Thomas deserved that. Hell, he probably deserved worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come scream at me on tumblr @i-will-never-be-satisfied


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which John makes an appearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days? What is this? Productivity?  
> This is really short tho sorry

Alexander didn’t have a 9am class, so he usually went to the library and worked. Yeah, that was exactly what he needed right now - clear his head, finish that project for next week, and distract himself from that whole mess with Jefferson, at least momentarily. 

_ Oh God.  _ How long had Jefferson known? Had it all been some kind of sick joke? No, it couldn’t have been. Why would Jefferson have suddenly started avoiding him, and then admitted to being ‘Depressed Guy’? He must have only found out when Alexander  _ stupidly  _ decided to tell him his name. And then freaked out because they hated each other. And then decided to avoid Alexander. 

Alexander’s internal monologue is interrupted by someone waving a hand in his face. “Earth to Alex? You there?” 

He shakes his head, as if to physically clear the circling questions. “Sorry, John, just thinking.”

“What’s got you so in your head that you didn’t see me a foot in front of you?”

“Well, have I got a story for you.”

~~~~~

“I can’t believe you bought him coffee. You only do that when you really care about someone.”

“I was concerned for him, okay? You would be too!”

“Relax, I know. No need to get defensive.”

“So… what the fuck do I do now?”

John thought for a moment, twisting a piece of his hair. “Well, do you want to be friends?”

Alexander’s gaze dropped to his shoes. “I don’t really know,” he said. “That was a pretty big secret to keep.”

John nodded. “Understandable. Just think about it sometime soon, yeah?”

“Right. Now enough about me, what’s been going on with you lately?”

~~~~~

This should not have been as big of a deal as it was. A stranger he’d been texting for three weeks shouldn’t have been so important. A random guy from one of his classes shouldn’t have been so important. Even if Hamilton never wanted to talk to him again (which Thomas would understand), Thomas would be  _ fine _ . 

His phone buzzed. Unknown number. 

_ Xxxxxxxxxx: was it me you were ranting about? _

Thomas blinked and checked that he’d read the text correctly. 

_ Thomas: yeah _

_ Thomas: sorry _

He saved the number under ‘Hamilton’.

_ Hamilton: it’s fine _

_ Hamilton: after all i was also complaining about you _

_ Thomas: lmao i figured _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come scream at me on tumblr @i-will-never-be-satisfied


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Thomas does not read Cyrano de Bergerac (which is a really good and imo underrated play)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for not updating, finals week and shitty mental health kinda did a number on me, but we’re BACK BOIS

Stupid tall-ass library shelves. Even stretching, Alexander’s fingertips barely grazed the spine of the book he needed. He was about to renounce yet another piece of his pride and go ask the librarian for a stepladder when someone easily pulled out the book and handed it to him. 

“Thank you,” he said, turning around. His eyes went wide when he saw who it was. Jefferson cleared his throat. 

“You’re welcome,” he said. After an awkward pause, he indicated to the book that Alexander was now holding. “Good luck on your paper. I gotta, uh, I have a class now.” And before Alexander could say anything he was walking away. 

~~~~~

Thomas was sitting in the cafeteria with James, animatedly discussing a new TV show they were watching. A copy of  _ Cyrano de Bergerac _ lay forgotten on the table, since Thomas was supposed to be studying for a test. 

It just so happened that Thomas’s chair was positioned so that he had a practically perfect view of whoever was entering the cafeteria. And so he saw Hamilton come in, bopping slightly to whatever was playing through his earbuds, a slight smile on his face. 

He must have stared for a little too long though, and Hamilton looked back at him questioningly. Thomas quickly averted his eyes and deflected James’s “Hey, you good?”

~~~~~

“Alright, Thomas, what’s wrong?” asked James. 

“What do you mean?” he replied, feigning nonchalance. 

“Don’t give me that bullshit. You’ve been weird all week. What’s wrong?”

Thomas sighed. “It’s stupid. Just- don’t even worry about it. I’ll get over myself soon.”

“If you don’t wanna tell me you can just say so,” James said, looking worried. 

“No, no, it’s not like that, it’s just-”Thomas began, and sighed again, “me being stupid and awkward.”

Understanding lit up on James’s face. “Is this about Hamilton?”

“Yeah,” Thomas admitted, playing with his shirt sleeve. “I just still feel guilty even though I already told him and it’s his call to make whether he even wants to-”

“Whoa, whoa,” James interrupted. “Hold on a second. Let’s just take this one thing at a time.” Thomas nodded slowly. “Okay. Guilt. I’d say that’s normal, since you did keep a pretty big secret for a while.”

“Should I have done something more? I feel like I should, I mean, all I really did was go up to him and say, ‘Oh, you know, I’ve been keeping this double identity from you for like a week, please don’t hate me.’” Thomas said all of this very fast. 

“Well,” began James. “Maybe you could apologize?” 

“But what if he doesn’t want to talk to me?”

“Then you can leave him alone. But I think you’ll feel less guilty if you try. And also if he talks to you he’ll have to establish where you stand and you two can stop being so awkward all the fucking time,” James laughed. 

Thomas’s eyes widened. “James!”

~~~~~

Alexander had hit the snooze button one too many times that morning, and he would be lucky to make it to his first class on time, let alone early. A steady stream of curses ran through his head as he ran across campus and into the classroom at 7:58, barely concealing how out of breath he was. 

The second surprise of the day, thankfully, was much more pleasant. An iced coffee sat on his desk, along with a note. Just like the one he’d given Jefferson…

_ Sorry for not telling you earlier. -Jefferson _

~~~~~

After class, Thomas was putting stuff into his bookbag when Hamilton came up to him. 

“Uh, hey,” Hamilton begins. 

“Hi,” says Thomas, more than a little scared but trying not to show it. 

“Thanks for the coffee. And… it’s okay, I mean, I completely understand why you did it.”

Thomas let out a shaky laugh. “Yeah, I thought you’d hate me even more than you already did. If that were possible.”

Hamilton smiled. “I don’t think it would’ve been possible for us to hate each other any more.” Thomas agreed. 

“So, um, do you wanna try… being friends?” 

And Thomas smiled, really smiled, for the first time in a long time around someone who wasn’t James. 

“I’d really like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come scream at me on tumblr @i-will-never-be-satisfied


End file.
